This invention relates to a pressure reactor for producing a combustible gas by the gasification of solid fuel or a mixture of solid and liquid fuels. The invention additionally provides an arrangement of apparatus that includes a reactor with a fluidized bed onto which solid or liquid fuel together with a gasification medium are injected for utilizing the residual heat of the gases passing from the pressure reactor.
It is well known in the art that sulfur contained in solid fuels frequently renders such fuels unsuitable for direct use as a solid fuel. This makes it necessary to extract the combustible gases from the solid fuels for use as fuel gases. The sulfur compounds which the gases contain are freed from the gases by precipitation prior to the use of the gas.
The gasification processes are frequently carried out with oxygen-enriched air or with a high percentage of oxygen along with water vapor (steam) and carbon dioxide as the gasifying medium. The gasification processes take place at such high temperatures that the uncombustible substances in the fuels occur as liquid slags. Special precautions must be taken to insure that this slag remains sufficiently fluid during the process and does not freeze. However, the difficulty often occurs that fine slag particles are carried along with the gas stream and deposited upon the colder parts of the apparatus and pipelines. The slag deposits cause stoppages and other operational breakdowns of the apparatus which is used for the gasification process.
In order to obtain a higher throughput capacity to the gasification process, techniques have been developed in which the gasification of solid fuels has been carried out at higher pressures using a cylindrical pressure reactor in the process.